Hey guys. Not too long ago got a sound devices 302 off ebay. Checked it out when it first came, seemed like everything worked flawlessly. Used it once to help with some music recording, no issues. Was using it today and while monitoring the recording devices (a Tascam DR07) through headphones, kept hearing these little "crackle" or "pops". Thought it might be the rubbery stuff on the headphones. . .nope. . .I was actually seeing it on the mixer's meters. Thought it might be interference on the Sennheiser G2 lav I had hooked up to the mixer. . .nope, still saw the pops registering on the mixer's meters. Finally, unplugged/turned off everything except the mixer. . .it was the mixer itself! I had nothing hooked up to it, but I could still see the meter registering the little random clicks/pops. So it was something inside the mixer? Then I turned it off, and when I turned it back on, it stopped doing that.

Anyone ever heard of this? This is the first time it's done this to me. Battery light was green (using AAs).

Have you tried turning the input gain knobs one by one to see if that was the source of your pops? Those pots could be dirty and may be the first culprit.

Can we hear it?

Did you try changing the batteries?

If all else fails, contact Sound Devices support they're very helpful ..

Support | Sound Devices, LLC (http://www.sounddevices.com/support/)

Cheers.

Likely will need to be sent to the mother ship for repair.
Move the trim and faders to hear if that changes.

Damn. That sounds like the issue. I had adjusted the coarse trim before recording. Although just to be clear, this popping was AFTER i had made my adjustments. I was not touching the knobs at the time. Man...i dont wanna nuffin to the mothership. That sounds expensive.

Praying that my SD 442 does not experience those or any other problems which was also purchased through ebay.

I would call SD Josh.
I vaguely recall those symptoms being reported on a 302 at another forum.

Thanks. Just emailed their support. Like all the best problems, I could not recreate it. When it happened that time I mentioned above, I turned it off and back on, and it was gone. I did some recording and every time I checked the headphones (couldn't wear 'em all the time cause I was acting in this thing) I didn't hear it. Even tried screwing with all the channels' coarse gain pots. . .nuttin. It's like the first act of a horror film for sound guys where nobody believes the ghost is real.

Damn. That sounds like the issue. I had adjusted the coarse trim before recording. Although just to be clear, this popping was AFTER i had made my adjustments. I was not touching the knobs at the time. Man...i dont wanna nuffin to the mothership. That sounds expensive.

Josh,

What's expensive is not being able to use broken gear (if it is broken). Sound Devices, as a company, is one of the best out there for service. I own a 442 and a 744T and have known them almost since they started. Do yourself a favor, reach out to them TODAY and get back on track.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ok, this may well have (surprise!) been pilot error. Looks like I had the inputs on channels 2 and 3 which weren't being used at all switched to phantom power instead of DYN. SD folks said that might have done it.

Josh,

Thanks for bothering to return with that info. I'm sure others will also find it helpful!

Who'da thunk it.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Josh, et al...Thanks! I haven't had any 'issues' with my SD-302, but I didn't know SD recommends leaving 'unused' channels switched to 'DYN' position rather then 'Phantom +48 vdc'. That is now part of my "switch-list".

Ty..."Who'da thunk it?" Indeed!

Best regards,

J.

No problem. It's not FOR SURE that that's the issue. . .but it very well could be. Hopefully. I guess I'll know if it happens again and the unused channels are on DYN!

First time I've heard of that one. Try Googling around eg: ..

SD 302 Phantom Power Crackling Sounds - Equipment - JWSOUNDGROUP (http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/7238-sd-302-phantom-power-crackling-sounds/)

Cheers.